Abstract

Concern about the increase in alcohol consumption amongst young women, drink spiking and drug-assisted sexual assault have culminated in a renewed focus on safety advice for young women. This paper examines young women's responses to safety advice, and their associated safety behaviours, by drawing upon interview and focus group data from a qualitative study with 35 young women (18–25 years) in relation to their safety in bars, pubs and clubs. The findings reveal that young women's behaviours were complex and contradictory in that they resisted, adopted and transgressed recommended safety behaviours. This raises interesting questions about both the practical and the theoretical implications of contemporary safety campaigns, challenging the prevailing focus on women's behaviour and the gendered discourse invoked by such campaigns.